A Flower's Spark
by Rosie May Jane
Summary: Lily, a headfirst, lowly maid is sent on a deadly task with the most eligible bachelor in the wizarding world. Pushed into a different world completely, Lily and James are forced to cooperate as they are caught up in a whirlwind of emotions. L/J.
1. Introduction

Disclaimer:  
All characters you recognize as J.K. Rowling's are not mine.  
Also, you may recognize a few things from the House of Night series by P C Cast.  
Those are also not mine.

A **F L O W E R S** S P A R K

Chapter One  
I N T R O D U C T I O N

--x--

L I L Y **E V A N S** was curled up on the window bed, careful not to be found. She focused on the skies, the greyness and gloominess of which made her piercing emerald eyes stand out. The rain was pouring down, pounding against the concrete paths, splattering against the window.

Lily's desire to be out there was a great one, but even she knew the risk was too big. Mrs Potter would almost definitely catch her, and she'd be fired for sure. God knew how much Lily needed that job.

Lily had been an orphan as long as she could remember. Her parents, she was told, had died in a car crash. She knew of only but her sister's name, Petunia. She would have nothing to do with Lily, and blamed her for their parent's death. Instead she went to live with her aunt, refusing to allow Lily to live with them. Her aunt, being a feeble and easily swayed woman readily agreed, leaving Lily to fend for herself.

In 9 months and 12 days, Lily would legally be able to move out of the catholic orphanage she was currently placed in, and back into her parents' old house. Two weeks ago, after lots and lots of searching, Lily managed to acquire this job at The Potter Manor. She hopped dearly that James Potter wouldn't recognize her, even though the chances of that were slim.

Being a muggleborn, poor witch, Lily was offered a scholarship into Hogwarts, which you might think was a good thing. You'd be wrong. Obtaining a scholarship wasn't a symbol for intelligence; using a scholarship was possibly the quickest way of becoming an outcast.

In her dorm, there happened only to be three people, herself included. One of them was Katie Syde, the only person in their room who wasn't a scholar, and also the only who talked to them (and therefore was branded a nobody also). Charlotte Jones, more commonly known as Charlie, although no-one ever talked about her, at least not in a good way, was the only other person in Lily's year to have gained a scholarship too.

Both of Lily's friends were extremely pretty, Katie with her straight black hair flowing down her back and grey eyes, and Charlie with her blonde short ringlets and brilliant blue eyes. Although the only reassurance they had was from the other two, as no one else wanted to be caught dead with them.

Barely anyone bothered to even _glance_ at Lily, so she figured James Potter wouldn't notice her. But, her vivid red hair being quite an unusual shade of red to come across, she figured wrong.

Hearing footsteps approaching, she quickly jumped, startled, and frantically began working. Desperately needing money, Lily had to grab any opportunity she could find, and was now working as one of Julia Potter's maid.

The Potters were on the other end of the spectrum from Lily Evans. They were one of the magical community's most rich, influential and highly respected families; constantly in the papers, being talked about almost all the time, people doing all they can to please them and girls practically, _literally_, kissing James Potter's feet.

However, Lily detested such girls and made no motion to do the same. Although Potter was undeniably handsome with his tousled, brown hair, hazel eyes and masculine figure, him and his best friend, Sirius Black, who was equally good-looking with almost black hair, grey eyes, and the features of which could rival a Greek gods, didn't seem to notice the three girls, and they weren't complaining.

The mahogany door creaked open, as a little rat scurried out from behind. Lily, unlike most girls, didn't shriek, or jump, or faint with shock. Instead she laid down the duster she was currently holding, and carefully picked it up, gently stroking it. She giggled as it attempted to struggled out of her grip, and placed it back on the red carpet just as softly as when she had lifted it.

The rat stood still for a few moments, seeming to watch her intently, until it decided it had seen enough and scuttled back out.

Lily sighed, and closed the door behind the small rodent. She stopped working in 15 minutes. Then she would be forced to return to a building she loathed.

In one week, Lily would finally receive the escape she had wished for and waited for, all summer. She'd be returning for her sixth year at Hogwarts. This year though, when Lily returned from Hogwarts, she wouldn't be going back to the orphanage.

_This year, _Lily thought,_ I'll be free._

--x--

As Lily entered the orphanage, she was careful not to step on any of the creaks, or to make any noise. If she did, she'd surely be strapped for "disturbing others" or "being the daughter of the devil". To Lily, the thought of Hogwarts was the only thing that kept the orphanage short from insufferable.

"LILY!"

_Damn it, she knows I'm here._

"Yes?" Lily replied nonchalantly,

The fat, acne-covered nun narrowed her eyes at Lily, "_Look_, you little devil, if you can't seem to act in a way that is at _least_ tolerable, you'll soon feel God's wrath,"

"You mean _your_ wrath,"

"Why you little _rascal_," she glared daggers at Lily and beckoned her to follow,

Once in the Sister's office, Lily automatically put her hands out, which were already covered in several cuts and purple, blue and green bruises. Sister Gertrude walked round her desk and fished out a buckled belt from in her drawer.

She strode back round to Lily, a malicious look in her almost black eyes.

She lifted up the belt buckle and struck it down on Lily's hands so it hit the same place as before.

Lily did not quiver, nor did she give Sister Gertrude any sign of pain, for she would not _ever_ give her the satisfaction of knowing she had got to her. The pain was immense and it coursed up through her arms, and she had to use all her will to keep from letting them shake. Sister Gertrude struck Lily two more times, making sure to strike in the exact same point as before, for maximum pain.

In a cold voice, Sister Gertrude said, "Leave, I do not wish to see you until dinner,"

Lily saved her backtalk, for she wanted to get as far away as possible. Nor did she want any bruises on the first day of Hogwarts. She managed to get through the next week, biting her tongue to stop any backchat she could feel building up. She only left the orphanage to run the 1 mile distance to The Potter Manor.

Tonight, Lily was going to get as much rest as she could. She would need it, for tomorrow was the first day of Hogwarts, and what an unforgettable day it was going to be.

--x--

As Lily boarded the train, she was feeling euphoric. Her mind kept travelling back to the note she left Sister Gertrude. It stated, "_See you in hell, bitch,"_

Although it wasn't signed by anyone, Lily was sure the Sister would guess almost immediately that it was her. She was possibly the most hated by Sister Gertrude. Thank god, they weren't going to meet again. Lily would make sure of it.

She searched for her two friends, and found them lounging with their feet up about halfway down the train. A smile appeared upon her face, one that reached her eyes, and she pushed Katie's feet off a seat and sat down. Katie pouted at her, and Lily rolled her eyes in return.

"So how's life been?" Charlie asked casually,

"Suck-ish," Lily answered, while Katie said "_Unbelievably boring."_

"How can your life be _boring_? It must be filled with balls and parties and beautiful dresses and _shoes…_" Charlie asked, her eyes filled with longing,

"You know I _hate_ all those things," Katie retorted,

"I second that," said Lily,

Charlie looked offended, as though she were insulted in one of the harshest ways possible. She gave a little indignant 'humph', crossed her arms, and stared out the window. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. It was a strange sight to behold in rainy old England.

The rest of train ride, and carriage ride, passed with a few conversations, nothing too meaningful. They reached Hogwarts, awe-struck once again by its beauty, especially Lily and Charlie who were both barely getting by and rarely ever entered something so magnificent.

Lily sighed contently. While waiting for the first year sorting, they had to resort to shouting over other people's conversations, just to be heard by the person sitting next to them. Lily, Charlie and Katie received several dirty looks from others, including fellow gryffindors, but mainly Mariella and her "friends" (or posse of skank bitches as Charlie referred to them as).

Mariella was a long legged, blonde haired, blue eyed, pink lipped girl in the same year as Lily. She looked like she was caked in powder constantly, used a whole bottle of mascara just for one eye, and obviously didn't know how to apply eyeliner for her eyes resembled a raccoons. She was one of the girls that refused to dorm with Charlie, Katie and Lily, and was therefore moved. The other was her friend, Lois, who had brown hair, cut into a bob, light blue eyes which were verging on gray, also always surrounded by eyeliner and mascara, but when caught on her own was actually decent, and didn't have too bad a personality. However, when she was with Mariella, she acted like a down-right bitch.

Katie, Lily and Charlie ignored their dirty looks and watched as the first years were sorted, cheering along with everyone else when "Gryffindor!" was called out.

And then Dumbledore appeared, making his usual speech,

"To our newcomers: welcome! To our old hands: welcome back! There is a time for speech-making, and this is not it. Tuck in!"

And with that glorious amounts of food appeared on the tables, surprising the first years, and filling the rest with joy as they ate until they could not fit in one more crumb.

Lily, however, had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, and merely played with her food that the rest were gobbling down so eagerly. This was not lost on her friends.

"Lily? You okay?" Charlie asked with a concern-filled voice,

"Mmm, yeah," Lily responded absentmindedly,

Charlie and Katie exchanged looks of worry, but knew Lily well enough to not question it, and carried on eating, although perhaps not as enthusiastically as before.

Professor Dumbledore stood up once again, managing to silence the hall in a matter of seconds. Lily looked up at him; having a feeling this was going to concern her.

"Would James Potter and-"

Professor McGonagall muttered a few words to him, too quiet and too far away for Lily, or anyone else, to hear. Professor Dumbledore nodded, before turning back to the student.

He wore a grave expression, as he asked, "Would James Potter, and Lily Evans please join me in my office?"

Lily's stomach churned and her jaw dropped. She made eye contact with Katie and Charlie, before nervously standing up, fidgeting with her clothes as she followed Dumbledore out the door. James Potter however, sauntered next to him, as confident as ever, and managed to evoke a fury in Lily Evans. His cockiness got on her nerves sometimes, but she was clever enough to know she _would_ be punished if she said anything.

As they were leaving Lily could feel the students' eyes burning into her back as they watched her

Professor Dumbledore sensed Lily's nervousness, and calmly told her to relax, and that she wasn't in any trouble.

Despite his reassuring words, Lily still had an uneasy feeling about all of this. Maybe she was overreacting. Maybe it was something good.

As they approached his office, Dumbledore uttered, in his booming voice, the password, "Liquorice Wands", and beckoned them in. Inside, standing rigidly were two men. One was short, and not so much as fat but chubby, and the other was tall and masculine. They both had dark brown hair and brown eyes. Dumbledore greeted them both with nods, as they bowed their heads respectfully in return.

"I'd like you to meet John and Will," Dumbledore started, "They're both Aurors from the Ministry of Magic."

"This is all very well, but what exactly do _I_ have to do with it?" questioned James,

"If you'd be as kind and patient to let me continue, you'd be certain to find out."

James cheek flushed slightly as he mumbled an apology and looked away.

The three men wore solemn expression as Will, the short one, took in a breath and started explaining, "You see, Ms Evans and Mr Potter, that there are these… _people_… to say the least…"

"He means, vampyres," said John in a very uncompassionate voice.

Will glared at him, "They deserve to know," John's words were obviously false and he made no move to conceal it.

Will sighed heavily, and carried on, "These _vampyres_, well, they have powers."

James snorted at this, attracting the attention of the 4 other people in the room, who all gave him questioning looks,

"You say powers as though it's completely unreal," he elaborated, "What do we wizards have?"

Will sighed once again, "These _damn_ interruptions," he muttered, "Look, they don't have the same sort of powers we do. In fact, they don't bother with spells, or wands. Actually, only a special few even attain powers. You see they're like… a school of sorts. "

"A school… for vampyres?" inquired Lily,

"Yeah, it's a vampyre finishing school. It's called the House of Night."

"This gets stranger and stranger by the minute," muttered James,

"Anyway, the powers that they do obtain are of great quality. One girl, in her third year, has acquired a power or an affinity as they call it to see the future. And, in one of her… _visions_, she saw two visitors. She didn't know what they were doing there, but she knew they were to play a very _very_ important role in the survival of their school."

"Umm, Mr…" Lily questioned,

"Just call me Will,"

"Okay, Will, who exactly are these people?"

Will looked straight at Lily, and spoke without ever losing eye contact, "You two."

Lily knew it was coming, but it still didn't prepare her for the astonishment she felt. She almost staggered backwards, as though the words were a physical blow also. Flabbergasted, traumatized, and shaken up, Lily stole a glance at James, just to see his reaction. His face was one of unreadable emotion. _He'd be a good poker player. Hell, he probably __**was**__ a good poker player._

Shaking her head from trivial, unneeded thoughts, she looked back at Will.

"…And?" she asked nervously,

"Mr. Potter?" Will asked, a bit frightened by his inactiveness,

"I-I'm not goin-." James replied,

"Sir, you _have_ to go." Lily was shocked to hear someone speak so bluntly to James Potter, until he carried on, "Your parents readily agreed to it."

"You didn't let me finish," he said, teeth clenched, "I'm not going, _with her_."

Lily being the only female in the room, and also the only person going with him, it was obvious who he was talking about. Lily felt as though she should've been offended but she really really couldn't care less.

"Why, Mr Potter?" asked Dumbledore calmly, and Lily realized she hadn't noticed him very much, due to his unusual lack of speech.

"Because…" James stumbled over his words, looked attentively at Lily; then realization dawned on his face, "she's my mother's maid."

Lily blush, causing her usually porcelain skin to turn bright red and attempted to hide her face in her hair, which did not help the matter as her hair and the current shade of her face clashed horribly.

"You should not look down on her, Mr Potter, for I've heard from a very reliable source that she would… how do you say… _kick your butt_ in Quidditch",

Now both James and Lily were blushing. James because he had never been so insulted or embarrassed in his life, and Lily because one, she still wasn't over being recognized, and two, the only times she had ever even dared go on to the Quidditch pitch were after curfew.

"So, Ms Evans, do I have your consent?" Dumbledore asked, the twinkle in his eye brighter than ever,

"Why does _it_ get to be asked for its consent?" James asked conceitedly, arrogantly unaware of Lily being an orphan,

The look Dumbledore gave him silenced him immediately, and he resorted to glaring daggers at Lily, who nodded feebly, not taking her eyes of her Headmaster.

"Good then. Your things have been packed, Will and John will take you halfway, but from then on, you'll be on your own."

"P-professor?" Lily asked meekly,

"Yes, Ms Evans?"

"… Where _is_ this House of Night?"

There was a moment of silence, a pause if you will, while Dumbledore hesitated, "the North Pole,"

Lily's eyes grew wide and she was seriously considering taking back her earlier agreement. James… well he just didn't react. He sat there unmoving, looking at the floor, refusing to think about this. He had no choice in the matter, he knew that. Once his parents said yes, that was it, he _had_ to do it. Being the only son of a family from the nobility, he was expected to do as he was told until the day he owned The Potter Manor and everything that came with it. He wished that day were soon, but, like most children, he didn't want his parents to die. No matter how annoyingly uncaring they were towards him.

"What time?"

"Pardon?" Will questioned back to the uncharacteristically quiet Potter,

"What time are we leaving?" James replied in annoyance –He hated repeating himself.

"8 am," He replied curtly,

James nodded, not fully in agreement, but didn't say anything either,

"Can I go now?"

"Yes, you two are dismissed,"

They walked back to the Gryffindor Tower in silence, neither wanting to speak to the other. However, Lily found the silence slightly unbearable, which was unusual, for usually she didn't care about such things. She endured the quiet until they reached the tower.

"Just because we're doing this together, it does _not_ mean we're friends." He smirked, and added, "In fact, we're the _opposite_."

"HAH, me – friends with _you_?!" Lily questioned indignantly,

James narrowed his eyes at her, but no one had ever talked to him in such a manner, so he huffed and turned around. After uttering the single worded password, he slammed the portrait of the Fat Lady into Lily's smirking and shocked face, who rubbed her nose while muttering "_Ouch,_"

She whispered the password and then stepped as the portrait swung open, revealing the red and gold Gryffindor common room, full of many gryffindors and even a few people from other houses.

The first years were being given talks by Remus, the sixth year Gryffindor prefect, and with a shock, Lily realized _she_ was meant to be giving these talks too. As she watched James' retreating back as he jogged up the boys' stairs, she turned to Remus with an apologetic face.

"Hi, sorr-"

"You were talking to Dumbledore, I know"

Being a marauder, Remus was never teased for talking to Lily. In fact, he was one of nicest people in… well in the whole of Hogwarts. Remus and Katie were the only nobles to talk to Lily and Charlie. Katie became an outsider, whereas Remus remained the same as always, no one blamed him, he was just "_too_ nice".

Lily smiled thankfully at him, wondering why he hung around with such dicks.

"Thanks, so you were saying?"

"Actually were just about finished. I think I'm gonna crash now."

Lily furrowed her brow and gave him a quizzical look. He looked slightly taken aback.

"Lily itsalready 11."

Her mouth formed an 'O' shape, as she looked to the grandfather clock near the fireplace, and indeed, it was an hour till tomorrow.

"Well goodnight Remus… and thank you" She smiled graciously once again,

"No problem!" he replied, returning her grin.

Lily slowly crept up the stairs, and, after a long, tiring, information-filled day, feel asleep with a million different thoughts flying round her head.

--x--

Words: 3,403  
Pages: 8

Was it too much for a first chapter? Did my writing style change a bit? I'm not sure when I want this story to be set (time-wise) I think maybe, 1960's? Review and tell me what you think [ideas for _anything_ are more than welcome]

-R :)


	2. Magical Hotels

Disclaimer:  
All characters you recognize as J.K. Rowling's are not mine.  
Also, you may recognize a few things from the House of Night series by P C Cast.  
Those are also not mine.

A **F L O W E R S** S P A R K

Chapter Two  
M A G I C A L **H O T E L S**

--x--

A S **J A M E S** P O T T E R woke up from his bed, he was reluctant to leave the warm cosiness of his comfy duvet. Then he remembered what he was getting up for. It was a marauder tradition that every year, on the first day of school, they would sneak out to Hogsmeade that night, and celebrate. He, of course, would miss it. Due to that silly… that silly… _thing_ with… that redhead. Whatever her name was, James didn't _need_ to remember. He was _James Potter_. He practically owned the school. He had a _perfect_ life. A gorgeous, and very dumb, girlfriend, Mariella, and, possibly the only people to ever dare stand up to him, his _very_ loyal friends.

He couldn't think of anything more. Apart from his parents' love, but of course that was "too much to ask."… And his freedom - how much he wanted to be able to make his own choices in life, as everyone, but him, was allowed to do.

He looked up at the ceiling, sighing, before rolling out of the bed, almost collapsing on the floor, but catching himself in time.

He was, well his family was from, the nobility. The nobility were a group of families deemed influential and important enough to belong to this collection. Hogwarts was for witches and wizards from the nobility only, along with a few scholarships for people who they considered where bright enough to earn a spot.

James sometimes wished he was normal, and had yet to meet someone who viewed him as a normal person, apart from his friends. Believe or not, James actually grew _tired_ of girls throwing themselves at his feet. But, of course, he could not mention this. Or else he would seem like an outsider, although he knew he'd never be shunned by his own friends.

Slowly, half-asleep, James donned his robes, and strode downstairs. In the common room, he witnessed a flash of red hair zoom out the common room. He glared at what was now the back of the portrait, and made his way over. He saw her running down the stairs and round the corner, and followed quickly behind. She always managed to run just out of sight. As he arrived at Dumbledore's office, he saw the gargoyle turning round to reveal steps and a golden door. With light steps, she ambled up the stairs, in high spirits.

The door swung open before Lily had a change to knock on it, so she walked in, followed by James a few seconds after.

Dumbledore nodded and smiled at both of them, the twinkle shining bright in his eye.

"Ms Evans, Mr Potter,"

"Professor," Lily replied,

"Are we leaving now professor?" James asked, even though his voice was polite, he managed to fit in a tone of annoyance.

"Be patient, James. We must wait till Will and John get here."

As if they were on a cue, they appeared through the golden door to the headmaster's office. He greeted them politely, to which they replied in the same manner.

"You all set?"

Lily nodded while James stood unmoving.

"I'll take that as a yes" said Will hesitantly as he gave a concerned look to James.

James glared at Will in return.

"Okay… Right, well we should probably tell you the things we haven't already."

Lily's head snapped up as she heard the previous sentence.

"Well, you already know that we're only going to accompany you for half the journey?"

Lily nodded; her bad feeling from yesterday back again.

"Yeah…. That was a lie…" Will said nervously,

"Basically, we're only gonna be with you for 15 minutes - of a 10 day journey." John deadpanned

Eyes wide, Lily looked to Dumbledore for help. He nodded at her, silently telling her there was no need to worry, and that she'd be fine. Sucking in a deep breath, Lily nodded again.

"In fact, we're going to take you, on brooms, to the hippogriffs you'll be riding. They will get you another significant portion of the way before it'll become too dark and you'll have to rest. There's already a room booked for you in the name of the ministry. In the morning, you'll continue by broom for another 5 hours, before coming to another hotel. From here, you will then be transported by thestrals-"

"Aren't thestrals meant to be dangerous? I mean, according to the ministry of magic?" Inquired Lily,

"Maybe so, but what part of this mission _isn't_ dangerous?" he asked, and when he received no answer and a blushing Lily, he carried on,

"After completing the journey on the thestrals, and resting, you should be on day 4 of your journey. From then on you'll be transported by centaurs who have agreed to team up with ministry of magic for you, Lily Evans-"

"For me? Why me?"

For the first time, James seemed to paying attention, as he focused on Will's answer.

"I don't know" – James went back to not bothering to listen, - "But they seemed adamant to help you."

Confused, Lily waited for the rest of Will's speech.

"After this, you'll stay at yet another hotel. This time, you can rest for a 4 days, and yes this does count as part of the 10 days. You may not wander more than 3 miles away from the hotel, or we _will _know. After this, you'll be greeted by two very _very_ rare dragons, so try not to kill them. They have been specially bred to withstand low temperatures, and to be agile and quick. They will take you to the House of Night. Halfway in between where you met the dragons and the House of Night you'll home in an abandoned igloo and you will be greeted by two more dragons with vampyres on both. These have been sent to keep you safe when we can't.  
Throughout all of this, you will be constantly checked up and you _will_ be safe, up until when you meet the dragons, but soon after you will see the vampires. We will give you instructions, names of places, and money."

After this brief, James fetched his broomstick, quickly, and Lily was given a very expensive one, paid for by the Ministry.

"Why can't we just use human transport?" Asked Lily,

The two Aurors looked offended, then remembered Lily was muggleborn, "We do not trust their technology."

"Oh no, you're just willing to send us on 10-frickin'-day trip," muttered Lily under her breath,

She heard Dumbledore chuckle, and she her cheeks flushed red. When James returned, they were led to the edge of the forbidden forest, were Will and John bid them farewell.

"This was your five minutes of our 10 day trip? _Really?_" James asked, shocked,

Lily had to agree with him, they could have done this on their own; there was absolutely no point in coming along. However, she said nothing, and just continued to mount her broom.

"We've charmed your brooms to take you to the right places at the right time" John said abruptly, and then brashly walked away,

"Good lu-"

"Will?"

"Yes?"

"Why go to all this trouble to save a school? It's a very nice notion, but not a very Ministry-like thing to do…" Lily questioned,

"Well… they may… have threatened us…"

"Threatened you how?" Asked Lily, curiosity getting the better of her,

"… They may have… threatened to… suck-the-minister-of-all-his-blood-and-leave-us-with-his-bones…" Will rushed,

Lily gasped, while James looked up for the first time since they had reached the forbidden forest.

"Good luck," said Will, tipping his hat, and making for John, who was already half way back to the castle,

Lily's broom lurched forward, as fear overwhelmed her. Surely that such a big part wouldn't have been left out? Maybe it was Lily's fault for not asking?

Either way, she was _scared_. Lily wondered where her Gryffindor courage was now. She took in a deep breath, and started off, leaving James behind her in a trail of dust.

He narrowed his eyes and kicked off the group, soon overtaking her.

Willing herself to go her fastest, Lily managed to catch up with James in a matter of seconds, but couldn't overtake him due to their great speeds. They were neck and neck in their silent, unorganized competition. Lily was rarely competitive, but in Quidditch, and a few muggle games too, her aggressive side came out.

When going her fastest, Lily cherished the feel of the wind blowing about her hair, pushing it backwards, or in front of her face. She took pleasure in the emotion she felt when flying. She couldn't quite place it, but it was lovely all the same.

The sun was covered by thin clouds, which were rapidly disappearing, or maybe they were moving away from the clouds, so fast that it seemed as though they could break through the atmosphere. It was such a lovely day yesterday, but it was obvious it wasn't going to stay like that. It was _England_. Through the little gaps in the water-filled clouds, sun shone through. When the golden rays touched Lily's hair they turned the most beautiful shade of red, a colour even prettier than her normal hair. James did notice this, but he didn't say anything.

Soon James tired and Lily, being the nice person she is and unable to hold a grudge for too long, slowed down to match his pace. Or maybe she slowed down to gloat…

"You alright?" she asked, with a cocky smirk,

He narrowed his eyes at her, and said "I didn't eat breakfast." as though it was reason enough.

"It doesn't matter, neither did I," Lily stated smugly,

James was shocked, once again, at the boldness of someone so inferior to him. No one had ever declared one of his reasons as not mattering. He was so utterly pissed off, that he couldn't bring himself to answer. Or at least that's what he told himself.

He couldn't help but smiling as the red head giggled her contagious laugh and zoomed off in front of him. But he wasn't going to let _her_ know _that_.

The whole journey continued like that, with James a few metres behind Lily, and Lily smiling at being able to fly, _openly_. Had she been on the Hogwarts pitch, in daytime like she was now, she would have surely been shooed and told she sucked.

--x--

Once they reached the wizard family that owned the hippogriffs they were going to ride, they quickly dismounted and greeted them. There, they met Sally, an Auror's wife, Mike, an Auror, Jack, and Millie, their twins.

After thanking them profusely on behalf of her and James, Lily took hold of the hippogriff called Glacies, and James took Ignis.

Lily being one to love animals, including the magical kind, immediately befriended her hippogriff. Riding it was even better than being on a broom. She closed and her eyes and cuddled up the half griffin creature. She sniffed in its scent. It smelt of the forest. She heard the rhythmic flapping of its wings, in time with her heartbeat.

She was all set to fall asleep when she heard her name.

"EVANS!" James shouted at her,

He then pointed downwards, where a solitary building stood.

It was a very nicely decorated place, and as Lily got closer she made it out to be a hotel.

Too tired to take in anything else, she grudgingly made her way over, handed over Glacies to one of the employees, and waited to check in.

--x--

Lily sat in her hotel room, number 176. The three of the walls were a beige colour, the one behind her bed a nice off-white. The covers were also white, as the pillows were creamy. There was a desk to one side of her, with a phone on it. A door to bathroom was near the door to exit, and a lamp stood on the side table next to her.

James room, opposite Lily's, was almost identical to hers, though his room was already littered with clothes.

As James sat on his bed, glaring at the mess he had created, he started to wonder about Lily. He didn't understand what it was about her that made her different from other girls. She wasn't from the nobility, she didn't throw herself at his feet, she wasn't shy or nervous, and in fact she was quite the opposite, though that annoyed James.

Lily was wondering what it was about that James that made him such a pompous twat. Sure, he could get almost any girl he wanted, he was decent looking, and he had enough money to last over five generations.

With too many thoughts on her mind she decided it was the right time to take a nice hot shower.

As she stepped into the bathroom she was gleefully happy with what she saw. The sink and toilet were both eye-blindingly white, and it seems her favourite white fluffy robes with yellow ducks on them had already been brought here.

She went red at the thought of them seeing her rubber ducky towel, but her thoughts were soon cleared as she saw the bath (and shower), made completely out of white marble. She gasped, and she inspected the contents on the shower tray and found a variety of her favourite shampoos and shower gels.

She sighed, as she ran a bath and poured in half of her spearmint scented bubble bath. She sniffed in as the aroma wafted round the room. Everything from the obviously newly polished marble floor tiles, to the scent of lavender and sage mixed together made filled her with bliss.

As Lily was lulled into a sense of relaxation, James was sitting on his bed, glaring at everything he looked at. Eventually, he couldn't take anymore, so he decided to go for a walk.

As James was just finishing getting ready, he opened his door to see Lily closing hers and smile at him. Weren't they enemies? It didn't matter to James, as he wasn't in a mood to argue.

"Going for a walk?" Lily asked cheerfully,

James nodded in return,

"Mind if I join you?" Lily requested,

James shrugged and started on down the hallway, Lily hot on his trail.

"So, how's life?" Lily wasn't about to let James misery get her down, and was as cheerful as ever.

"Nothing…" he trailed off,

But not everyone was perfect, and soon Lily was getting kinda annoyed at his inability to hold a conversation. They walked into the elevator

"Jeez, what's up with you?" She questioned, pressing the buttons

"Nothing…"

"There's obviously _something_! You're acting like a complete and utter miserable sod,"

Once again, James was astounded at Lily's brashness. By now they had already made it to the street.

"Well, what's there to be happy for?!" He countered, angrily,

Lily was slightly taken aback by his rage, but quickly recovered, and said, "Well there's tons of reasons to be happy."

Slightly curious, James asked "Like what?" but he didn't drop his annoyed tone,

"Well…" Lily started,

She went on to name any sweet or heart-warming acts she could find down this busy village streets. She pointed out kissing couples, families, little kids, acts of love, and all the others things she sought for.

Through all of this, James' mood gradually got better, although he would never tell her.

Eventually, they turned around, and went in a circle and ended up back at their hotel, as they had intended.

As they went up the elevator, and down the corridor, neither had anything to say to the other, but they didn't seem to mind. The silence was a comfortable one, not awkward.

As they parted ways, James unwillingly smiled at Lily. James vowed that starting tomorrow he would _not_ let Lily become his friend. Sure she was nice, but she was a scholar student, and only outcasts and nobodies became friends with those. In fact, James decided that after this trip he wouldn't talk to her _at all_. He was drawn to a certain tapping noise on the window. It was an owl.

After he had brought it in and apologized for not bringing any owl treats but feeding it some chocolate anyway, he untied the letter and rolled it out.

_Dear James_

_I hear you're like stuck with the _freak_. I hope you're not like getting all close and up personal like with _it. _Anyway, just know that like if you do, you'd automatically become one of… them._

_Anyways, I came to like __tell you__ ask you if you were like alright and everything? God knows I wouldn't like be crying in like sobs on the floor if _I _was stuck with_ her_…_

_So, darling, what's this like secret task you're going on? My daddy told me where you were, but he couldn't say anymore._

_OMG, I just had a brilliant idea like umm, what's the word… genius, yeah, a _genius_ idea, like what if you _did_ … what's the word… befriend? Yeah, alright, whatever, what if you _did_ befriend whatshername, like not for real. But like she'd end up telling you stuff, and you could tell _us_ this stuff, and… c'mon, please, James? She's not one of _us_…one of the nobility… we've known each other _forever_._

_Love you,  
Mariella,_

_PS, from Lois: She asked, or made, you pick, me to owl this and I thought it the perfect opportunity to inform you that the befriending Lily idea was _mine. _Don't tell Mariella I wrote on her letter… Please?_

James reread the letter quite a few times before decided, that in the mindset he had entered when walking into his room, the don't-talk-to-Lily-_ever_ mindset, that his goal would be to befriend her and find out her secrets… Mariella _was_ a genius, or Lois or whatever… or at least she/they were to James. That was _obviously _what his mind had been subconsciously thinking when he started feeling happy around her.

He was born and raised to marry a girl of the nobility, and Lily was not one…

After a long _long_ day, a happy Lily and an uncertain James fell asleep, knowing little about what was to come when they finally arrive at the House of Night.

--x--

Words: 3,045  
Pages: 8

Blueeghh… It's going really _really_ slowly… this is what happened in my last one :/ I'll attempt to speed it up, yeah? :)

Thanks **Lyne Morgan**: My first reviewer (for this story) :) haha I really want to see that happen too, unfortunately I guess neither of us know when that's gonna happen :S

-R :)


	3. The Fouresst

Disclaimer:  
All characters you recognize as J.K. Rowling's are not mine.  
Also, you may recognize a few things from the House of Night series by P C Cast.  
Those are also not mine.

A **F L O W E R S** S P A R K

Chapter Three  
T H E **F O U R E S S T**

--x--

Waking up, refreshed and rested, Lily and James made their way over to their next hotel, with a 5 hour broom ride.

It was raining heavily, and Lily found the feel of the raindrops pounding her skin enchanting. She recalled the days she'd sit inside the orphanage, exiled to the attic due to her '_disobedience_', wishing she could go outside. The window, however, was covered by bars, locked, and too high up for Lily, and too small to get out.

She sighed happily, oh how she _loved_ the rain.

James, however, found it quite strange, but refreshing, as half the girls he knew would shriek and squeal at even the thought of getting their make-up and hair wet.

Being a good guy at heart, well sometimes… okay rarely, but being a little bit decent, James still felt uneasy about befriending Lily and then backstabbing her. But James could convince himself to do things very easily, and managed to tell himself it was for the better.

The day passed with rarely any conversation, as Lily was satisfied with the quiet, and James still a bit unsure of himself.

They reached the hotel, grandly decorated as was their first, and crashed for the night.

--x--

The next morning, they woke up, a little sore and achy from the day before. Lily yawned as she got out of her red and white bed, walking over to her zipped up suitcase. She changed slowly, stumbling a little.

While James was 3 doors down, and dressing as quickly and efficiently as possible. He then sank down on the bed, and waiting for Lily before heading down to breakfast.

They were met by some thestrals waiting outside for them, with a note saying

"_So far, so good,_

_-Professor Dumbledore_"

Lily smiled, before hauling herself up onto the thestral, that both her and James could see.

"Can you see them?" Asked James, wondering as to where innocent little Lily would have ever seen death before,

"Yes," she answered without hesitation, "Can you?"

He nodded solemnly, and mounted his thestral. They took off into the air.

About 3 hours into the flight, James struck up a conversation.

"It was when my sister died."

Lily gasped, filled with pity, "I'm so sorry,"

"It wasn't you're fault."

Being a very empathetic person, Lily was immediately twice as sympathetic towards James.

"She was my twin," he started, blinking hard to keep from crying, "We were three. My dad had taken me to get my first broom" He smiled from the memory, and then went back to misery, "And my mum was in the kitchen with Elizabeth…" he didn't want to carry on, but he knew that if he wanted to get something out of her, he'd have to finish. At least what he was saying wasn't a lie.

"And the doorbell rang, so my mother put her down on the counter. And… well, she obviously forgot she didn't blow out the fire because…"  
"Well, I suppose you can guess… well, the house burnt down… and she… she died. My mother couldn't do anything about it. She was dead by the time the fire had spread to the living room, let alone the front hall."

He took in a breath, and waited for Lily to tell him her explanation.

Lily was uncertain about telling him, even though he'd just told her about him. It was only cause he'd told her about his twin that she tried not to think about the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, and told him.

"Well… I was… well, little. I was three too, actually. And my 'sister' and I were at school. Well I was at the nursery, but they were joined together so… Anyway she's barely my sister, she hasn't talked to me ever since, well what happened… It was around 2, naptime basically, and the teacher came in with a really really sad expression."

Lily had to will herself to go on, for the memory was much too painful, "And, she asked me to go outside, where I found a crying Petunia, my sister, and she… she told me it was a car crash. That my parents had died in a car crash."

Lily was crying freely now, she didn't want to talk to anyway.

James felt a pang of sympathy, before remembering, "_She's not one of us, she's not one of us, she's not one of us…_"

The thestrals dropped them of at another hotel. Lily was getting tired of hotels. She missed her lovely, cosy Hogwarts bed. She'd slept in it once this whole year! Well, school year…

As James rushed to his room after checking in to find Mariella's owl there, he knew what he had to do.

--x--

The next morning, Lily received an owl. She looked at hit peculiarly, as she could tell both Katie and Charlie's owls from miles away. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration.

Anyway, she walked over to the window and fed it a little bit of biscuit, before taking the letter.

After seeing that it was sealed with red wax and the curving, elaborate design to signify a member of nobility, Lily opened it uneasily,

_Orphan Lily, Orphan Lily, Orphan Lily,_

_Touch my boyfriend, and I'll make you drop out of Hogwarts, you orphaned nobody._

Lily's salt-water tears clouded over her eyes, but she forced herself not to send an owl to Katie about James' twin.

She sat and wallowed in her self-pity before deciding she would never, _ever_ speak to him again, except for when she would confront him, tomorrow.

--x—

In the morning, James was greeted with glares.James was baffled as to how Lily could know about it already. He convinced himself that it wasn't about him telling Mariella the night before:

_Dear Mariella,_

_If you could speak like… Oh, I don't know, a human? That would be appreciated. I have some news I think you'll like…_

_Lily… well her parents… they're dead. _Dead_ dead._

_Don't tell her I told you, or she'll kill _me_._

_-James_

And he sent it off promptly… Actually, the reply came in less than two hours, waking him up in the middle of the night. Maybe she could have told Lily already.

_Dear James,_

_How can I like talk like a like human? When I _am_ a human, and like can't talk like any differently…_

_You mean like… an orphan? What's-her-name is an _orphan_?_

_Aw, darlin', you take like the fun out of _everything!

_Love from  
Mariella_

It was only when James received this that he thought about Lily's lack of parents. _Was_ she an orphan? Lily Evans, the strange, outsider… an orphan? Surely she couldn't be…

James rid his mind of the thought, and continued after Lily…

They flew three more miles northwards, on brooms, until stopping near the edge of a forest. After waiting for about 10 minutes, they heard the distant thunder of hooves slamming against the forest ground.

Lily glanced at James uncertainly, a look to which she hoped she'd get a reassuring one in return. However, James looked straight ahead, and wouldn't reply.

As the sound got louder, Lily saw some fast moving shapes from far away. They were getting closer and closer.

Stopping about three metres away, Lily realized with a shock they were centaurs. She smiled at them uneasily.

"Don't be afraid, Princess."

"Princess?" Lily questioned, confused,

"Yes, Princess," replied the centaur, equally confused, "Did you not know?"

"Know what?" she asked, still as confused as before,

Realization dawned on his face, as he said, "Oh, never mind… I must… have…" trailing off,

Lily nodded uncertainly, but smiled with less fear than before.

"So…"

"We'll transport you to you're next hotel, its about 20 miles that way," he said pointing back into the forest,

"Into the… forest?" asked Lily, gulping,

The centaur nodded, "Will that be a problem, Prin-Ms. Evans?"

"No, no of course not," Lily said, swallowing her fear, "And call me Lily," she added, smiling graciously at them,

The centaur smiled back, and said "My name is Firenze," he said, bowing down,

Lily wasn't sure if this was a custom with centaurs as she'd never heard about them bowing down before strangers in class, but bowed back at him anyway,

He laughed at her and said, "You need not bow, Lily,"

Lily looked away, a little embarrassed. She was sure she had made a fool out of herself already.

"It's okay, Princess, I-"

"You called me Princess again," She stated, her brow furrowed,

"I, oh… umm, did I?"

Lily nodded, "Yeah,"

"Oh, it was a mistake…"

"Umm… okay,"

"So, if you'd kindly take your place," Firenze instructed, turning round so Lily was able to clamber up on to him.

James more graciously climbed up a centaur named Amore. James had been forced to take horseback riding lessons when he was younger, and therefore was an expert at being able to stay upright while galloping forward on Amore.

Lily however, flailed outwards, and had to keep catching herself in order to stay on Firenze.

James had to resist the urge to laugh at her struggles. As they went deeper and deeper into the woods, James felt like… he _knew_ this place… It was probably nothing…

After attempting to figure out what it was, James gave up, and then with shock realized he _had_ been here before. When he was little, a bit after… _she_… died. His parents couldn't bear to look at him, and sent him to an ex-servant/friend up north. This particular friend lived in the small village called Hihnakput. James had stayed there for 3 years until his parents decided it was time to bring their only son back home.

A little sad and caught up in the memory, James didn't realize that they'd reached the village.

"I must leave you now, Pr-Lily…" He corrected,

She smiled brightly at him, "Thank you, Firenze,"

"Don't mention it, Lily…" He smiled genuinely back at her,

Amore gave James a smile too as they parted ways. Firenze walked off, muttering "Lily… Lily… Lily…"

Lily did nothing but follow as James lead her to his parents' friend's house... or hut. You see, although this was a magical community, they wouldn't part with the ways of their ancient civilization, Hatooh, pronounced Ha-two-oh. When James' mother's servant, Masubi Hyeen found out he was not in fact Masubi Hyeen but Masubi Hatooh, leader of the tribe of wizards that lived here.

That was before James was born, and when Masubi had to return to his home village to rule his people.

James was familiar with their ways: fires, no electricity (but that was more due to them being wizards,) a two hour hike for water, right into the centre of the forest.

As James entered the old looking hut, he smelt the familiar smell of his past. He greeted Masubi, an elderly man with skin like coffee, and greying hair, with a smile and hug.

"My, James, you've _grown_." He commented, looking him up and down.

Masubi was about a foot smaller than James and almost 4 inches smaller than Lily.

"Yeah, well… long time no see" James replied grinning,

Masubi motioned for James and Lily to sit on the make-shift chairs, which they did silently.

He started asking a few questions, such as "Did you come through the fouresst?"

"The fouresst?"

"He means the forest," James explained,

"Ah, yes, in our language, it is the _fouresst"_

"That's… interesting," said Lily, actually intrigued,

"Yeah, well, where are we staying anyway?" James questioned,

"Here, of course!" Said Masubi,

"Here?" asked Lily,

"Yup,"

"Oh…"

"That a problem?" Masubi asked, suddenly worried,

"Oh, no no," Lily replied hurriedly,

"Good," He said, back to his cheerful self,

"Well, how did you get here?"

"On the centaurs…" Lily replied,

"The _centaurs_?"

Realizing that to the villages this pack of centaurs where probably wild, she quickly explained, "Yeah, the Ministry managed to get them to cooperate,"

"But… they don't ever do anything for the Ministry. _Ever_."

Lily shrugged, and said, "Well there's a first time for everything," suddenly feeling uneasy,

"I suppose…" he said grudgingly,

"So… is there anything to eat?"

"Boy, you bet ya!"

James smiled, he had always loved Masubi's food.

After they had eaten and made small talk, Lily and James were shown to their beds.

--x--

After trying to sleep for two hours, James asked, "Lily?"

"Yes?"

"Are you asleep?"

"Yes, of course I am," she replied sarcastically, "'Cause I can answer you in my sleep, can't I!"

"Well, maybe you can, you _are_ a witch,"

"I doubt even witches can do that…"

"You're right, it'd take a wizard to do that,"

"Are you being sexist?"

"No. Anyway, I was wondering if I could show you something."

"Show me what?"

"Is it a full moon tonight, Lily?"

"Yes."

"Oh okay,"

"Why, so you can feed me to a werewolf?"

Feeling a pang of guilt, James remembered about Remus'… furry little problem.

In third year, James, Sirius and Peter had managed to turn themselves into animagi, so they could stay with Remus during every full moon.

He hoped Sirius could cope without him. James was the biggest, being a stag and all. Sirius was big, for a dog. He was shaggy and black… Peter was of no help except to get the tree to stop moving, being a rat and all.

Peter wasn't actually part of the nobility, but because of his manipulative parents who managed to bribe the Minister, using his greediness to their advantage, he was accepted as a somebody, just because he was able to get into Hogwarts without being a noble or a scholar, which was near impossible.

Lily found this quite unfair, for she was much _much_ smarter than him. Although, she didn't particularly _want_ to be accepted if it meant she had to become one of these good for nothing skanks that were the complete _opposite_ of her.

Then, remembering he was also in a conversation, he said, "No, no… you'll love this, trust me."

"Trust you?" she snorted.

James felt another pang of guilt. _So she knew…_

"I-I'm sorry about that Lily, it slipped out, honestly, I didn-"

"Shut up. I don't want to hear your excuses,"

"Then how about you _see_ my apology,"

Curiosity and tiredness getting the better of her, Lily unwillingly agreed, "Fine…"

As James led her to the edge of the dark forest, she glanced upwards. The sky was starry and cloudless, a lovely shade of purpley-blue. While looking to the sky, she tripped and stumbled forward. Fortunately, James was there to catch her.

"Watch your step," he said laughing,

"Sorry," she replied, blushing, and then remembering she's supposed to be mad, stood upright and moved away from him.

"Lily, I hope you don't mind, but we'll be going into the forest,"

"GOING IN-" James hand clamped down on Lily's mouth as her screams were muffled,

"_Yes, _into the forest!" He whispered,

"Are you out of your mind?" She exclaimed as quietly as possible,

"I know what I'm doing, Lily, trust me,"

And with that he led her to a clearing, where she heard the rushing of water, but it was pitch black.

"This?" Lily asked flatly,

"Wait, wait, you'll see it… just a few minutes…"

After waiting, in silence, Lily began to see what he was so excited about. The full moon had started aligning with the hole in the canopy of trees above them. It caught the waterfall at all the right places, and brightened up the pond it made and the stream that flowed all the way down to Lily's feet.

The flowers around her started blossoming with an obviously magical speed. Pink and white… How pretty Lily thought they looked.

"This is _lovely_…" Lily gasped, "Those flowers are positively beautiful," she complimented them, lifting up her hand and cupping one of the glittering petals gently,

"There's more…

"More? What more could there be?"

"You'll see…"

In the distance, Lily saw slivers of silver.

"What are-"

"You'll see…" He repeated,

As they got closer and closer, Lily realized with a jolt they were _unicorns_!

"But, James, Unicorns are endangered; almost extinct!" she exclaimed,

"And this is one of the remaining packs."

"They're adorable," Lily purred, about to reach out for one,

"Don't!" said James hastily, to which Lily retracted her hand quickly,

"I mean, they just don't take well to strangers,"

Lily's mouth formed an adorable 'O' shape, as she watched James walked up to a full grown adult unicorn, and stroke it gently.

The shining silver unicorn foals made a couple of uncertain steps towards Lily, and she welcomed them towards her with opened arms.

"They're _lovely_…"

"They must like you a lot… I've never seen them take to anyone that quickly. Not even to me, or to Masubi."

"Not even Masubi?"

"Nope,"

Lily was secretly proud of being more loved by the unicorns than the tribe leader, but it was a horrible thing to say out loud and so she wouldn't.

As she lightly stepped around the pack of unicorns, her white dress flowed behind her, and she took off her white shoes, cherishing the feel of her bare feet against the grass and soil, then dipped her feet in the stream.

Lily noticed little specks in the air, which soon became bigger and more recognizable. She realized they were forest nymphs, just as rare.

"This is _amazing_, James,"

"So I'm forgiven?" James asked hopefully,

"Yes, yes you are," Lily said absentmindedly,

James smiled and watched as the unicorn babies nuzzled her, and the adults became more and more confident around her.

"They must really really like you…" James said happily,

"Well I like them," she replied, smiling into the eyes of a foal that was nudging her leg.

The wind blew through the blossoming trees, blowing the flowers around and scattering them across her hair and the stream…

The nymphs and the flowers started circling Lily as she laughed.

In the distance, there came a galloping sound, which Lily immediately recognized as the sound of a pack of centaurs.

As they approached, Lily and James could make out the features of Firenze and Amore…

"Firenze!" Lily exclaimed gleefully,

"Amore," James nodded at him,

"Princess Lily," Firenze said bowing,

The rest of the centaurs chorused back, "Princess, Princess!"

"James," Amore replied, nodding back at him,

"Princess?"

"Yes, princess."

"I-I'm no princess, trust me…" Lily replied,

"You are, Lily Rose Evans, you are. All will be seen, as it has been foreseen, in due time."

"What's been foreseen? What will I see?! How long is "in due time"?!" Asked Lily frantically,

The moonlight tinted her hair a yellow-red, and her eyes gray, her porcelain skin was as white as ever, and her white dress billowing around her.

She stood up, baffled, and looked to James.

He stared back at her, enchanted by her looks, and the scene around her. James felt like an onlooker as he saw the circling nymphs, the centaurs watching her, and the unicorns crowding around.

"This is for you, my princess…" Firenze said, bowing again, and handing her a silver locket.

"Wh-What."

"Ssh, Princess, it's time for us to go."

And with that, the centaurs cantered away, leaving a confused Lily and an entranced James.

As the moon started disappearing from the hole above, the nymphs circled her one more time, before disappearing, then the unicorns slipped away silently. The blossom stopped circling with her and fell to the floor. A breeze blew past, picking up the blossom on the floor, as well as pulling the flowers off the trees. They disintegrated with the magical wind, and James watched in awe as pink and white sparkles floated around Lily, gradually disappearing like a firework.

"That was… _brilliant_… James… I mean, it was possibly the most amazing thi-…"

"ng you've ever seen?" James finished off for her, and they both laughed,

"It's not over yet, I have more to show you,"

"What now?" she said, trying to be mock-angry, but giggling to much,

"Jeez, Lily, are you _drunk_?"

"Feels like it," she mumbled while stumbling a bit,

"Innocent little Lily knows what it feels like to be drunk?!" James asked, pretend-shocked,

"Maybe…" she said, cheekily,

"Where are we going anyway?"

"Mmm, okay, I'm gonna need you to close your eyes now."

"Why?"

"Please?"

"Fine."

Lily closed her eyes, being led across the crunchy untouched grass, occasionally stumbling over a twig.

She was feeling relatively safe, when suddenly,

"AAAH!" Lily shrieked, as she opened her eyes to see herself heading straight towards a body of water.

James was laughing hysterically, and Lily attempted to glare at him, but eventually gave in and started laughing too.

"Help me out, would you?" Lily asked, sticking out her hand,

"Oh, I'm not falling for _that,_" James laughed,

"For what?" Lily asked, generally confused,

"You know what!"

"No, I don't…" Still confused,

"I'll save you the trouble," James said, rolling his eyes, and diving headfirst into the pond.

"James!" Lily shrieked, as the splash he made hit her,

"I was never going to pull you in!" She managed to choke out between giggles,

"Oh…" James said, feeling kinda dumb,

After they had dried off on the grass, they started shivering.

"James that wa-"

"We should get back now, yeah?" He said smiling,

"Oh, umm, yeah…"

And with that they walked back to the hut.

"Goodnight, James, and thanks."

"No problem, Lily,"

Phase one of befriending Lily: Getting her to like me; Complete.

--x--

Words: 3,584  
Pages: 11

Yes, Firenze is from Harry Potter. I learnt it meant Florence in Italian, so I thought, "Hey why not more Italian?" and so Amore is the name for James' centaur. Amore = Love :)

So now you know a little bit of Italian… :)

I'm not too sure what I'm going to do about the whole Princess Lily thing… I'll think of something :P

Review please? :)  
Actually you don't _have_ to, because now I know at least 3 people are enjoying my story, I'll keep writing :)

**Grossgirl18**: :D

**MaryandMerlin**:haha, yeah I know. It's fun writing someone like that though. Thanks, I hope this update's soon enough for you :)

-R


	4. Frustration

Disclaimer:

All characters you recognize as J.K. Rowling's are not mine.

Also, you may recognize a few things from the House of Night series by P C Cast.

Those are also not mine.

_Previously;_

_"Goodnight, James, and thanks."_

_"No problem, Lily,"_

_Phase one of befriending Lily: Getting her to like me; Complete._

A **F L O W E R S** S P A R K

Chapter Four

F R U S T R A T I O N

--x--

Lily gazed out at the descending star. The dazzling shades of red and yellow merged into a vividly vibrant scene that could earn the approval of even the most criticizing being. Eyes tinted different shades of green, orange and brown, the reflection of the sunset was most evident. Her hair was twice as bright, which seemed almost impossible.

Her legs dangled out of a fourth story window. Within 5 hours of waking up the previous day, James and Lily had made it to a new hotel. It wasn't that well protected, nor posh, but Lily felt safe all the same.

As the last of the light faded down behind the shadowed far away hills, Lily pulled in her legs and walked slowly backwards. As the sky became a mixture of purple and blue, she could feel coldness taking place of the previous heat.

She sighed as she slipped out into the hallway. There were candles on brass mounts placed regularly along the wall, which casted dancing shadows on the paintings that lined it.

She lazily crept down the hallway, fidgeting slightly to ease her restlessness. She turned around and took a few lithe steps forward. Sighing once, she came to a stand still, unable to make her mind up about whether or not she should return down the familiarly shadowed hallway that seemed to be redolent of wine and cheap perfume.

She leaped up in fright, letting out an instinctual yelp as a voice coughed behind her. Her chest expanded considerably, as she let out a held in breath in a sigh of relief.

"Potter." She inclined her head forwards as a way of greeting him.

He returned her greeting with an amused smile. She blushed a terribly endearing color before passing by him, continuing on past her own door, wanting nothing but to leave.

She twisted and turned through a maze of corridors. Whilst walking down a lengthy hallway, a monstrously big shadow appeared from around the corner, only seeming to grow in size. The pointed figure's steps were unnervingly silent. That, or Lily's sense of hearing had been replaced with her rapidly increasing fear. Lily's eyes widened, before she took in quick, shallow breaths, making sure to make no noise. She'd seen this before… read about it… Nothing ever happened, right?

Wrong.

A masked figure turned the corner, clad in a billowing black cloak. Her heartbeat continued to quicken as she fought for control over her body. Fear seemed to take over and Lily felt paralyzed. Three more appeared from behind the corner, dressed the same.

It wasn't long 'til Lily realized it wasn't fear that currently had authority over her body, but a spell. She realized this about the same time she saw one of the deatheaters shout a foreign word. This was also the same time Lily had no choice but to submit to the blackness threatening to engulf her.

--x--

Tenderly stretching out his tired limbs, James pushed himself off the coarse bark on which he was leaning. There was a dull throbbing sensation that coursed through out his body, the source of which was his badly bruised thighs.

Each time he moved a leg, the pain split through him. It wasn't completely unbearable, but it was exactly comfortable.

Hours of running from a burning building had caused his body to capitulate to pain induced slumber. Waking up had not been a pleasant experience as the full force of his wounds hit him round the head.

Groaning, he stood up, before the memories of the night before flooded his thoughts.

"_Lily!" I shout out. It's futile even trying; they have her in a firm grasp. She slumps lifelessly into the death eater's hands. Anger fills me._

_Sure, she's annoying, hot headed, and seems to have a way of getting under my skin like no other, but in no world would I want _this _to happen to her. The death eaters are everything I detest, and everything my parents fight against._

_My whole life collapsed because these people need to be defeated, because things worth fighting for called for sacrifices. Sacrifices such as leaving your kids behind... So, when I was brought knowing that killing these people was more important then me, how am I meant to stand here doing nothing?_

_So, I run after him, quite quickly too. I suppress a growl threatening to burst from my unsuspecting throat._

_I reach out, grabbing a fistful of his black cloak. I spin him round, and he drops Lily in both shock and fright, or in preparation for a fight. He then swings back his hand, balling up his fist, confirming it to be the latter. I narrow my eyes and easily dodge his lazily thrown punch._

_Pulling back my whole body, I throw a fake, slow punch to his face, which he easily catches in his right hand, and quickly knee him where it'd really hurt. He doubles over, releasing my hand and groaning. As he falls, a wand spills out from his pocket. In a swift, unseen movement, I swoop down and grasp it firmly. It gives me a sense of safety in situation where I was next to powerless._

_He stands back up. I clip him in the neck, and send another kick down there. As he flies from my jab to his neck, my kick narrowly misses him. I hear him sigh in relief, and the frustration builds. He throws a roundhouse kick and me, which I duck under effortlessly. I punch him once in the face, so his head is thrown backwards, kick him in the knee, so he's pulled forwards and almost collapses, and punch him in the gut and chest consequently._

_He collapses to the floor within seconds, bloody and bruised. To be honest, he is twice as bad as I am, and I am still inspecting my various bleeding cuts and rapidly appearing bruises._

_I kick him in the stomach, which knocks the wind out of him. I gaze down at his retching body. He flips over on to his back, breathing heavily. His cloak flaps open, and I see the glint of a silver spherical shape, concealed with various buttons._

_I resist the growing urge to smirk and look at the limp Lily. Her red hair is tossed around her paler-than-normal face, almost everything about her screams out 'dead'. My want to feel smug vaporizes, and anger takes its place._

_Taking in Lily's appearance, I don't notice the death eater's quick recovery._

_He smashes into my leg, throwing a punch that will surely leave a mark tomorrow. I let out hasty breath as I plummet into the ground. Another death eater rounded the corner, wand pointed and anger radiating from every fiber of his being._

Stopping his line of thought there, James focused on anything to take his thoughts away from the mind-splitting memories he was recollecting.

He took in the scene around him. The cold, hard forest floor was bestrewn with orange and brown speckled leaves. He looked up, extending his arms outwards in a stretching motion, to see a canopy of bare branches. The crack made between them showed a moisture-filled sky, almost pure white in color.

He sighed and looked to sideways. There was a large gap between the plants, trees lining either side of it, creating an evocative sight that you'd most likely expect to see in antique-looking photos, or a painting of sorts.

He sighed again, long and hard, before testing out his unsteady lower half with a few cautious steps. His leg quivered slightly and he stood straight.

Taking a few steps, more confident this time, his lips pulled up at the corners as he felt a sense of accomplishment fill him to the top.

He then remembered exactly why he was here, and he physically winced as the memory he'd tried to hard to avoid came back.

"_What are you doing?" His voice is gravelly. It sounds like it physically hurts him to speak._

"_The boy provoked me," He answers simply, though the underlying fear in his monotone voice is evident._

"_And if you don't stop your behavior, you _will_ provoke me." He replies sternly, leaving no room for argument._

_The man nodded tersely, though his cloak leaves much to be imagined. He then grabbed my arms, restraining me. Gazing at the standing death eater, I don't register the action until it is too far done for me to do anything. Despite struggling, forcefully pushing and scraping his skin, his grip is too strong._

_The other death eater then picks up Lily's inanimate form; carrying her round the corner before the anger boiling inside me reminds me of the wand in my hand._

_The death eater then pushes me around the corner, and I form a rough plan inside my head._

_The other death eater races ahead, the one constricting me having a hard time from my struggles. As I stop struggling and the only sounds filling the walls are his shallow breaths, I hear the regular beep from his chest. _Beep, beep, beep.

_I see a window adjacent to a couple of pipes jutting out from the wall. With the wand I whisper a complex incantation. He quickly let's go off me, burns forming on his hands. I push him roughly into the pipes. They break, so that most of the pipe is cantilevered by the top. I see the death eater impatiently striding away from the hotel out of the window. I sigh in relief. She won't be hurt._

_I pull open his cloak, revealing my doubts to be true. I summon a handcuff. It flies into my hand, decorated with pink fluff. In another situation I would find this amusing. But I don't. I handcuff his struggling hand to a pipe that hasn't been broken. My fingers curl up above the button, every single bad ending running through my head. No timer? The death eater captures me? It doesn't work?_

_But none of them stop me. I press the red button…_

_And run. The beeps got rapidly faster until you could not distinguish the difference between one beep and another, they just became one long drone._

_I feel a blast of cool air and look over to the open window to the left of me. I am two stories higher than ground level, but I have no other chance to escape. It was this or death._

_With a moment's hesitation, I leap from the window, plummeting towards the ground at what seemed the speed of a roller coaster. My skin is pulled back as I rush towards the concrete floor._

_I land with smack, my hands red from the impact, while the building I was previously in not two seconds ago exploded with a louder bang than I could've imagined._

_Suddenly all hearing is cut off. The fire touches my skin, and I scream out in agony. Every moment pushed my outer layer of skin far too hard, and every breath tore into my lungs. I take in a lungful of smoke, pulling up my shirt around my mouth. I resist choking; it would hurt far too much._

_The tears prickle at my eyes, before spilling without warning. I blink them away, but the smoke hitting them just creates more._

_Shards of glass tear through my skin, grazing it and cutting into it. Bits of plaster shower over me, forcing me to duck for cover._

"_You!" The death eater shouts out in his low, gravelly voice. He appears unharmed but I couldn't turn my head round far enough without it screaming for me too stop, and the smoke and tears mixing together made it too hard to see._

_Fear fills me, the snapped wand, now futile, is grasped by my right hand._

_I'm powerless._

He shakes his head, and counts his steps. _Twenty-four… thirty-eight… fifty-three..._ It bored him, of course, but it was like counting sheep. Something to do; a distraction?

He groaned aloud. He would give almost anything to see Lily again. He would give even more for all of this to have never happened; for him to see the finely furnished Hogwarts beds. He'd never pushed himself so hard before, and his limbs were taking it for the worse.

It was while he pondered on Hogwarts that he heard a voice surprisingly familiar.

"Prongs, mate!" James shook his head, glanced behind him and blinked.

His vision blurred for a second and then refocused. He blamed it purely on hallucinations, and on lack of sleep. He carried on wearily treading through the half soggy, half crunchy mass of leaves.

"D'ya have to walk so bloody quick?" His best mate questioned. James spun round in one fluid movement that then caused him to feel slightly nauseous.

"Sirius?" He blinked, rubbing his eyes a couple of times.

"In the flesh."

"Wh-How... You… Lost?" James muttered a string of incoherent words, but Sirius understood.

"I'll explain it too you soon, but Dumbledore-"

"Dumbledore." James snorted, "Should've guessed."

Sirius winked at him and carried on, unfurling his hand. "Dumbledore made this portkey."

In it, there was a little golden lace, shaped like a skull. James, who trusted his life with his best friend/brother, touched it without hesitation.

Suddenly he was spinning out of control. All he could detect were color fields, as everything merged into one. Hazy shades of orange and brown just become a dark auburn as the blended together. The bare branches swiveled into nothingness, and James' felt as though is stomach content were threatening to come up.

It was as though a freak tornado and flown right by then and decided it would sweep him up and take him for a ride. He whirled turbulently, the hazy patches turning into fresh black dots.

Then, he felt the drooping sensation of falling suddenly. He collapsed to the floor, staggering. The hazy patches of color turned to darkness as he watched 'Sirius' merge into an unfamiliar face; a face that was laughing maniacally.

--x--

Lily wasn't oblivious to the fact she had been knocked out. Actually, the constant ache emanating from the bruise on the back of her head was incessant reminder of this. She looked around her, peering into the vastness of the dark that surrounded her.

She decidedly concluded that her eyes would be of no help, open or closed, and resorted to leaning against the cold stony wall behind her. Her eyelids fluttered down, and she twisted herself in an unorthodox position, in which the left side of her body grazed the hard rock.

After moments of restlessly turning, the overly dominant impatience within her burst outward, and in one burst of annoyance she stood upright. Sighing, she muttered profanities under her breath, before feeling the wall behind her. Relying mainly on her sense of touch, she roughly moved to the side, one hand always remaining on the boulder-like structure.

"That ain't gon' get yous nowhere 'ere." A crabby voice spoke out,

Lily jumped up, before gathering herself. A prodigious quantity of questions sprang to mind, and she was tempted to fire them at the unknown speaker. Instead, she methodically picked one.

"How can you see me?" She asked, squinting as she turned over 360 degrees.

"Yous gon' get use' to the dark," The rigorous chagrin was obvious in his statement.

Lily doubted that strongly. "Oh yeah? After how long?" She questioned him, curious.

"A month or two?" He pondered. "They kee' op'ning the doors, the light'll blind you and it'll take ya another day to get use' to it. Not that ya wan'."

She perceived a couple of shuffles and a groan. "Is there someone else here?" Lily asked, in a tone that was split between worried and inappropriately curious.

"Though' yous'd hav' know him." Lily deciphered his thick, southern American accent.

"Why?" Calling her current state confused would be a bit of an understatement.

" 'E was throw' in 'ere wit' ya." Lily furrowed her brow, fear brewing up inside her jostling stomach.

Her newly thought of fears were soon confirmed by the next statement.

"Lily?"

"James?"

--x--

She sighed as her the fermenting terror within her continued to increase. "Oh, f." She wobbled slightly, realizing she was still stood upright. Closing her eyes, she slid slowly down the harshly scraping barrier.

"James," She whimpered, all trivial rivalries forgotten in the moment. "What are we going to do?" Despite her will to stay strong, and her antagonism of crying, she couldn't help but let her voice break and quiver.

His reply was soft, yet stern. "Lily? Lily. Listen to me, I'll get you out of here." He trailed off into a subdued murmur, "I'll get you out of here," He repeated, more to himself than Lily.

Lily took in a shaky breath as she heard more shuffles. Sounds similar to the ones she had created when padding along the wall came from where a few seconds ago she could hear James.

"What are you doing?" She was feeling cramped and terrorized as she curled up into a ball, not caring that she was constricting her lungs or about anything rational at the moment.

"I'm going to get us out, Lily. They must have gotten us in somehow."

"I' tried that b'fore," The man's voice resounded again. James staggered slightly, taken aback by this new person. The unnamed one then jangled the chains which attached his wrists to the wall, preventing any chances at escape. "All they'll do is get yous in the'e." He finished.

James eyes, however, were rebellious as he shrugged nonchalantly, momentarily forgetting neither could see him. "So? I've got to try."

Lily found she admired James in a new light, but she was much to petrified to have acknowledged such things right then.

He jangled them regularly, but Lily concluded that it was because he was moving, not to prove a point.

"I was lucky," He said, "All they did was put me in chains. They'll kill most attempted escapees," He proved Lily's conclusion wrong, but remained silent afterwards.

James ignored him, but Lily was weaker, something she mentally kicked herself for, and felt herself wanting James to stop trying to escape. But she gathered up her strength, and kept her lips shut. Her breaths racked her body, as she tried to control her fright. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes and she felt like punching herself for letting them. Her breaths turned into deep sighs as she tried to overcome the miniscule panic attack she had managed to find herself in.

"James…?"

"Mmm?" Was his lazy reply. Lily knew he was too busy to actually pay attention, and just shook herself free of any thoughts concerning doubts, "Oh, um… found anything?" She covered up quickly.

"No, wait…" His statement was followed by a several second pause. "I… I think so," He finished hesitantly.

"What do you mean, 'You think so'?" Lily echoed.

"I-"

"Found a door?" The third person interjected.

James nodded, before quickly adding, "Oh, yeah."

"I would' go through ther' if ya kno' wha's goo' fer ya." He drawled out.

Lily could practically feel the grin oozing from James, as he answered, "I _never_ know what's good for me."

He tugged on the door, which, to his surprise, swung open with ease. A laser beam of light burst into the cooped up room. Lily gasped as she saw the third person. She recognized him, surprising seeing as the damage done to his face was pretty significant.

Purple and blue bruises could be seen on every piece of visible skin. Oozing cuts accompanied the healing red welts from previous hits. His face was paler than could ever be considered natural; shades lighter than Lily, who was fairly pale herself.

Two chains and shackles hoisted his arms up, which was cutting of the blood connection almost completely. Looking at the beaten and bruised man, Lily felt pangs of sympathy in her gut. She frowned visibly, wanting to murmur a soft 'sorry' or something of the sort but she couldn't seem to make her lips do anything but frown. Furrowing her brow, she heard James cough uncertainly. She twisted her neck in his direction, resulting in a click. Cradling her neck with her arm, she saw the guilt and sympathy swimming around in his gold-flecked eyes.

She nervously made her way to him, suddenly feeling very timid and very, very afraid. Sparing one last glance at the man in the corner, she followed James into the corridor of white that had so nearly blinded her not even minutes earlier.

--x--

Words: 3500  
Pages: 10  
Update date: 29th April, 2010; 8:52 pm.

Ahh, the long awaited chapter. Rewrote it completely like five times. It's on a track I'd quite like to keep pursuing. Sorry I took so long to update - a mild case of writer's block and laziness are my only excuses.


	5. Outspoken Outsider

Disclaimer:

All characters you recognize as J.K. Rowling's are not mine.

Also, you may recognize a few things from the House of Night series by P C Cast.

Those are also not mine.

_Previously;_

She nervously made her way to him, suddenly feeling very timid and very, very afraid.

Sparing one last glance at the man in the corner, she followed James into the corridor of white that had so nearly blinded her not even minutes earlier.

A **F L O W E R S** S P A R K

Chapter Five

t h e **o u t s p o k e n **o u t s i d e r

--x--

Lily's heart thumped repeatedly, so hard she though it could have flown right out her chest. As she followed the creeping James Potter in what could be described as a stealthy manner, she could feel the beads of sweat on her forehead. The smell of wine, mould and over sprayed perfume merged to make an intolerable, eye-watering stench. It grew stronger as Lily pushed herself down the wide, arch-roofed hallway.

Lily was in too much of a fearful daze to observe the elegantly fitted corridor. The roof was at least two stories up, and the cream colored walls reminded Lily quite a bit of Hogwarts itself. The walls were papered by irrationally placed portraits and regularly positioned lamps, which flickered ever so slightly with the barely existing breeze that wafted through.

Lily was blinking rapidly as James came to an abrupt stop outside a mahogany door, with an obvious hand carved pattern. He shot a sideways glance at her, eyes filled with uncertainty. Lily's were filled with fear. In one sudden but careful motion, James had unfastened the latch on the door and pulled it 'til it was gaping.

The terrifyingly loud _ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump_ of her heart against her rib cage had made the fear of James' movement slow to kick in. But when it did, it took almost all of Lily's will to stop her from breaking down, or, worse (or better) yet, from turning the other way and legging it.

The room, thankfully empty, was littered with old-fashioned clothes. As the fear in both of their minds slowly subdued, James took in the main colors of the room - green and silver. His expression turned grim and he balled up his hands into fists.

After quickly leaning out the room to check there was no one there, he hastily whispered, "Let's get out of here."

Lily rolled her eyes, while replying, "Well, what else are we going to do?" earning a slither of a smile from James. He then turned solemn, stating "This is serious, Lily… You saw him." Lily resisted the urge to flinch. She knew exactly what he was talking about. That was exactly what was going to happen if they stayed… or worse.

Closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath, Lily nodded. "What are we going to do?" She asked quietly.

"We'll need… We'll need to improvise." James stated, pondering it over.

"No shit, Sherlock," Lily breathed, so quietly he couldn't hear anything but the sound of her exhalations. Secretly, though, she wasn't sure if there was anyone else she'd rather be stuck with in this situation. Except maybe Sirius - they were too alike, or Professor Dumbledore, but that was unlikely.

James' marauding skills made him perfect for improvisation. Not that she was going to admit that to him.

Striding over to the window, he glanced down. Grunting he turned back to the room. He paced back and forth from the bed to the desk to the wardrobe back to the desk and so on. He ruffled through drawers, clothes, and bed sheets, occasionally coming across objects that he would pick up and inspect under an intense gaze, before nonchalantly chucking it over his shoulder and walking some more.

Lily walked over to the window, looking down. Her heart sunk a little. They were 4 stories up. How were they going to get down? Then Lily remembered one of those pep talks Charlie had given her in third year, when she was feeling down about being an outsider. All of that about Gryffindor courage, and whatnot… Summoning up the determination she'd acquired from her best friend's speeches, she slid the window up.

Sitting the windowsill, she pulled up her feet, and swung them round, so her legs were dangling. Gripping tightly onto anything she could, so tight her knuckles were shades lighter, she looked down for a foothold. Finding one in the ivy that had weaved its way up the tree, she twisted herself so she was facing the inside of the room, half of her body below the windowsill, the other half above and supporting most of it.

She firmly wrapped her leg into the ivy, slowly placing more and more weight onto her foot. Doing the same to the other leg, she lowered herself. All of her body was now below the windowsill. She had one hand still gripping onto it, and the other was threading its way towards the ivy.

It was only now that she let in James' protests she had subconsciously blocked out.

"Lily!" He exclaimed in a whisper, leaning out the window further than Lily thought was safe.

After glancing up at him, questioningly, he replied, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Getting out of here," She matched his tone, although her statement had an air of simplicity around it.

Her agile body allowed her to get to the drainpipe easily, and within 120 seconds she had reached the floor.

Looking up, she saw James attempted what she did. Flailing his arms about, he fell out of the window. Lily gasped, getting ready to attempt to break his fall, but he swiftly grabbed onto the wall-creeping plant.

Clambering on to the drainpipe skillfully, he climbed down it just as gracefully as Lily, landing with a small thud.

Lily smirked at him, and he narrowed his eyes, but a clash from the window they'd just climbed down from made their necks snap up in that direction.

Dread filled their guts. A short, stout, dark brown haired women leaned out the window. Her face was unnaturally pale, and she wore a green and black old-fashioned dress, completely with overdone black lace and a corset. Silver jewelry finished it off, as well as a family crest, which James couldn't quite make out.

Glancing at each other, they nodded in unison, and sprinted into the woods that bordered the mansion.

"There they are!" The women exclaimed, her voice far away. "Get them! GET THEM!" She roared out the order. Lily would _hate_ to work for her.

The thorns cut into her legs as she forced herself to steady her breathing and calm her nerves. She focused on the earth-covered path in front of her, and tried to forget about the blood oozing from her legs. There wasn't much she could do now.

A small, lengthy green light whizzed past Lily's ear like a laser beam. "Lily!" James shouted at her. She turned to look at him quizzically when another one flew by right in front of her face.

He jerked his thumb backwards, and she looked in that direction. Cloaked men, the same from the incident in the hotel, were gaining on Lily and James.

The nostalgia of the event hit James, and he was drowned into his memories once again.

_I'd scream if my jaw didn't feel like it's broken. I am caked in dried blood and broken bits of the walls._

_I can hear him advancing towards me. I panic. I hold the wand together and point it at him, although my right arm sends out pain in every way possible as a protest._

_Gritting my teeth, and I mutter out 'don't. move'. It sounds like he's decided to do what I say. It sounded wrong._

_He grabbed the wand out of my hand with ease, pointing it at me and shouting out a random spell before he realized it was broken._

_He spits out swear words and throw's it on the floor, but not before the spell hits me. The spell apparently backfires, as in the next few seconds I start to feel significantly better._

_My cuts heal up, and my body stops aching so much. However, the fear is still ever present and I bolt out of there as fast as possible._

_My breathing becomes labored and my legs start to ache._

"_GET BACK HERE." I hear the raspy voice from before. I'm unaware of what's happened to Lily, but at the moment, it's not my highest priority._

_I snap my head round, and see 4, maybe 5, cloaked men advancing on me. They shoot out spells, mainly the unforgivable curses. I push myself harder, even though I had previously thought I _was_ pushing myself the hardest I could._

_I run a little faster, and breath a littler steadier, but that soon runs out. They're still gaining on me as I make sharp rights and lefts and disappear in and out of the trees hastily.  
_

_I was trying to lose them - unsuccessfully. I hear a great big '_ca-caw'_ noise from above, and look up to see a silhouette of a strange shaped bird. Suddenly, the 'bird' lands in front of me._

_It's not a bird. It's a hippogriff._

_I look at it gratefully before clambering onto it's back. It flaps its wings and pushed upwards. I feel a swooping sensation in my gut as we lift up, quickly, into the air. We move at such a speed that within seconds the deatheaters look like ants among an orange and brown forest._

_I cling onto the hippogriff, breathing it in. I smile at the freedom I feel. Then I remember Lily. The shock hits me like a physical blow, and my balance is tempered with as I tilt to the side slightly._

_But sometimes, slightly is too much. And so I fall._

--x--

James sucked in a breath, and then prayed that another hippogriff, or something that'd do the same job, would appear like last time.

As Lily turned back and glanced at them, she quickly snapped her head back around, only to find she was about to run into a tree. Swerving quickly to the right, a long row of thickly intertwined branches and trees divided James and Lily.

James caught flashes of vivid red, while Lily had to snatch glimpses of James' white shirt.

The deatheaters stopped momentarily, hesitating, which gave Lily and James the breather they needed. Running faster than ever, the fence of trees slowly dwindled into nothing and they were soon next to each other again. It took a few moments for one of the deatheaters to shout out order, such as 'you two, down there.'

Flashing a smile at Lily, James snuck a glance from behind him. The deatheaters were losing speed. Sudden determination hit both of them as they repeated what James had done less than 24 hours ago. Turning sharp corners and rapid speeds almost had them toppling over, but soon they were disappearing into the orange and brown forest as though they were part of it.

Heading towards a hill, Lily's eyes widened instantaneously at the steepness of it. She looked up it, and then at James, whose eyes were narrowed, glaring at the hill. He sprinted up it, overtaking Lily by over a meter a second.

She gaped at him, before matching his speed. She didn't overtake, nor gain any speed, but she did make it up the hill only seconds after James. Inhaling deeply, she looked around herself. There was a strange pool in the middle of the top of the hill. It was a clear, deep blue. You could easily see the bottom. The strange thing about it was that despite the water was visibly pouring over the edge, the volume of liquid never decreased. In fact, it stayed the same.

The water pouring over creating a small waterfall, at least 40 ft high, probably higher. It led to a much deeper pool, which was frothing white bubbles and folding in over itself with waves of water. Taking one look backwards, Lily saw the deatheaters starting up the hill. Gaining speed quickly, she looked down at the water and made her decision.

Pinching her nose tightly, she took at running start and jumped over the edge. The falling sensation scared her immensely, and fear filled her. The sort of fear you get when you think 'I've forgotten something. What have I forgotten?' but about 37 times worse.

Flashing a quick glance behind him, James reckoned the deatheaters were about 5 meters away. With a couple of doubts, James ran and flung himself into the water.

The water engulfed Lily, pulling her under the white waves. It threatened to steal her of her oxygen. She frantically looked around. '_Where's up?'_ she though, getting ready to panic, '_Where's _anything_?'_

The water swallowed James whole, but, having been in this sort of situation before, he stilled himself, while looking around for Lily.

Once the water around him settled a little bit more, he saw Lily's red hair, and the vast amount of bubbles surrounding her. The water thrashed her around, and within two powerful strokes, James was at her side.

Green, blue and red spells crashed into the water, diffusing into after a couple of seconds. They made huge splashes and caused even more turmoil. Lily was starting to panic by now.

Pulling her up, he dragged her lightly to a branch. The deatheaters were staring at them from the top of the hill. Most of them were shooting spells in a fit of rage.

Clinging on to the branch, he hauled Lily on to it, hoping it would take both their weight. Once she was on and stable, he pulled himself up.

She choked on water, spitting it up, and grabbing her forehead in a futile attempt to ease her stomach.

Glancing up at the deatheaters darkly, and then back to Lily, his expression now soft, he asked, "You okay?"

She nodded sourly. He resisted the urge to laugh at her. Picking her up bridal style, he carried her over to a rock.

"I don't need you to carry me." Lily said indignantly, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

He raised his eyebrows in half-surprise and half-amusement, and mused "Really? I know a million girls who'd be dying for me help…"

Lily huffed. "Yeah, well, I'm not one of them."

"So I've figured." And with that they fell into a silence that wasn't quite awkward but not exactly the most comfortable.

James peeled off his white shirt, which was sticking to his body in an uncomfortable manner due to the water. He wrung it out over the river, watching the water drips fall out of his shirt and get swept up by the river before it even knew what had happened.

Lily's eyes were instinctually drawn to his upper body. '_Merlin…'_ she thought. Catching herself staring, her face flushed and she looked away. '_No, no, no…'_ She chanted over and over. Wasn't helping much though.

She looked out over the water, to the sun that was halfway between midday and sunset. She tried not looking to the deatheaters, but she couldn't help it.

James followed her line of vision, his expression changed to grim after he saw them.

"We better get going." He broke the silence in a monotone voice.

Lily nodded slowly, hesitating before realizing what was going on, and nodding more confidently.

She threw her arms around herself in a futile attempt to get warmer. James led the way, again, through a series of forest paths.

He settled on a small clearing. There was a small stream flowing by, which enlarged at one point, creating a puddle like illusion, but it was a bit deeper than the rest of the stream. Lily cupped her hands and filled them with water. She splashed it onto her face, waking her up from any daze she might have managed to slip into.

Sighing for no reason in particular, Lily made her way back to James.

"So?" She asked, making sure to make her voice emotionless - not cold, nor welcoming.

James shrugged. Rolling her eyes, Lily stated, "We're going to need somewhere to sleep."

James raised his eyebrows, to which she replied, "Well, what did you think was going to happen?"

James replied, quite arrogantly, "They'd save us."

Lily scoffed at his statement. "There's a war going on, Potter." He cocked his head to the side in confusion. "I doubt they'd waste time saving two lost teenagers."

Shaking his head, James looked away, rolling _his_ eyes. Looking back, he said, "You're forgetting, one of those teenagers is James Potter. _Lord_ James Potter." He added.

"Yeah, well then, they'd save _you_." Lily replied quietly.

After a moments silence, James countered, "I suppose you'll just have to stick with me, then, eh?" He grinned, almost managing to melt Lily's heart in one go. But the barriers she'd built up were much too strong for even James Potter's million dollar smiles. At least, they were now.

Lily pulled a face before replying, "I don't know if I'd rather just not be saved," and James pouted mockingly.

Lily seemed to be the only one out of the two of them who remembered that they were meant to hate each other, but she knew they'd need to work together if they planned on living another day, let alone weeks.

She frowned. '_Don't forget.'_ She mentally reminded herself.

James on the other hand, was telling himself the opposite. '_What's all this nobility crap got to do with lov- life anyways? You might as well forget it.' _He told himself. He was growing increasingly attached to Lily Evans, the outspoken outsider.

--x--

Words: 2987  
Pages: 8

Update date: 1st May, 2010; 9:00 pm

Hello everyone. Despite it being after 12: PINCH, PUNCH, FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH, NO RETURNS. (I know, I'm a real kid at heart.)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. While writing it (which I did all completely today) I only listened to hadouken! and **one** all time low song. I congratulate myself on my awesome taste in music. :P

Also, for everyone who's reading: **REVIEWS ARE MY HEROIN.**

****Because… 4 reviews kind of makes me sad. :'(


	6. Rabid Beasts?

Disclaimer:  
All characters you recognize as J.K. Rowling's are not mine.  
Also, you may recognize a few things from the House of Night series by P C Cast.  
Those are also not mine.

_Previously; _

_She frowned. '_Don't forget._'__ She mentally reminded herself._

_James, on the other hand, was telling himself the opposite. '_What's all this nobility crap got to do with lov- life anyways? You might as well forget it.'_He told himself. He was growing increasingly attached to Lily Evans, the outspoken outsider._

A **F L O W E R S** S P A R K

Chapter Six

r a b i d **b e a s t s **?

--x--

The wind whipped Lily's leaf-filled hair into her face, and forced the trees to dance maniacally. She trudged through the mass of leaves at her feet, being careful to cover her tracks. Dragging along a pile of firewood, she pulled the strands of red away from her face, which was smudged with dirt.

She came across a damp fallen tree, half jumping and half stepping off of it. Tugging on the rope that bound together the currently dry wood behind her, she almost tumbled into the ground, but her grip on the harsh material in her hand kept her almost upright.

She yanked it, but her attempts were futile. Dropping the cord, she exasperatedly walked round the lumpy piece of dead wood. Sighing, she bent down, getting ready to pick up the heap of dry fuel, when she heard from a branch twig snap from behind her.

Her sense heightened, she made to turn around. At around 45 degrees, she heard the ripping of a throaty snarl. Eyes widening, she carried on spinning slowly just in time to see a sheet of black pounce on her.

Falling against the forest floor, her eyelid reluctantly forced together, catching a glimpse of sharpened teeth and dripping drool. She let out half a scream before the dark pulled her back under.

--x--

James squinted at the roughly shaped hut. It was made out of twigs and branches and other sturdy things. It wasn't covered in leaves like he planned, but it should hold. The twigs entwined with each other, fitting together well enough to keep the structure up.

He stepped back, tilted his head, and examined it. Shrugging it off, he went to collect dry leaves and thin twigs that Lily would be able to weave together to create some form of a roof.

It was about 15 minutes later, after he'd collected quite a bit, that he heard the far away female shriek that could be no-one but Lily's. His head instantly flew upwards. Dropping everything in his hands onto the floor in a cogent manner, he sprinted off in the direction of her voice.

--x--

Lily came round and found she was struggling against the rabid dog whose drool was currently dripping onto Lily's almost-brown face.

She cringed and let out a groan of disgust. The dog stiffened at the sound. Bearing his teeth, he snarled menacingly. Keeping completely still, half out of fear, half out of wit, she watched as the dog relaxed, breathing out a foul odour. Lily almost choked when she breathed it in.

What was Lily meant to do in this situation? Stay there and hope the dog might leave, or go against the odds and try to break free of his near-impossible-to-get-out-of grasp?

Lily knew which one was the smarter one to take… But being a Gryffindor, Lily wasn't really about smarts, was she?

And with that thought she kicked the once again snarling dog.

--x--

"Lily?" James shouted out. He ran a hand through his windswept hair in frustration. Kicking the nearest tree, he thought, '_Shit… I should've never let her gone off on her own…_'

She couldn't be too far, James reasoned, as the firewood she was pulling was hitched up on the long, dead tree to the right of him.

He stood there, looking around him, and realized that he should be scared - more than scared, actually. And he was, don't get me wrong, he was frightened, but not for himself. He was fearful for Lily and what might become of her, but looking into the familiar scene of a forest, he couldn't help but feel slightly at home.

Face palming himself for not realizing it sooner, James focused all his concentration on one lone animal. Had anyone been there to see him, they would have found that, in a blink of an eye, where there was once a teenage boy now courageously stood a brilliantly dazzling stag.

His antlers prodded outwards from his head, high and mighty. His eyes swept over the forest, and his nose twitched ever so slightly as he sniffed out Lily's familiar scent. Scraping his foot twice on the ground, and bowing forwards, all in preparation, he galloped in the direction of Lily's smell with a speed and precision that outdid human's by far.

He didn't slow down for 10 minutes straight, and if you've ever ran full speed for that long, you'll know how tiring it is, but James still didn't stop until he reached such a magnificently huge tree, it was a wonder they hadn't seen it before. Obviously an evergreen tree, it looked strangely out of place in this gold and red crowd of trees, but inviting all the same.

At the bottom, there was a large gaping hole with sharp, roughly cut edges, and around it surrounded bits of torn out bark.

The tree was hollowed out, and inside it laid a beast that was snoring deeply, and next to the beast? A lock of vibrant orange hair was carelessly strewn aside. Inside James, fury, panic and that petrifying feeling when your heart stops were thrown in a pit of emotional turmoil as he stood there, feeling freaked out.

--x--

She felt the impact jolt up her leg, but it subdued there. Having kicked heavy, large objects before, she knew instantly that the kick she gave was nowhere near strong enough. Great. Now she's angered an opponent about three times the size of her.

The kick's impact did take its toll on the unsuspecting animal and it staggered backwards, out of a jagged opening in the black room she was in.

More light filtered in instantaneously and Lily realized where the previous flickering light was from. She attempted to clamber out while the brute was too stunned to move.

But she wasn't fast enough.

He roared in anger, and Lily realized with a new sudden fear that it definitely wasn't a regular dog. Hell, it probably wasn't a dog at all. Mustering the Gryffindor courage that resided somewhere deep within her, she narrowed her eyes and flailed her arms in every direction.

It was futile though, as the wild beast let out a cry of anguish and pushing her back inside of what Lily realized was actually a tree. '_How strange,_' she thought, a smile playing on her lips as her head plummeted to the ground and hit it with a thud.

The beast rested on top of her, the minimal fur on his belly tickling her face. There was just enough room next to her and under the animal for air to blow through and she breathed in the vital air to her horribly constricted chest.

Eventually, though, through lack of air and an almost blinding pain in her head, Lily blacked out for the second time that day.

--x--

James clambered into the hole in an undignified way, but when you're a stag, what does it matter? Gathering his strength into his antlers, he pushed the enormous animal. It was heavy, no doubt about it, so heavy James was fearful of his antlers snapping in two. He'd look like a right twat then.

Giving his head a little shake to clear it of such thoughts, he managed to heave the beast sideways. It gave a little spasm and James stepped back over Lily protectively, but it just went back to breathing steadily and drooling repulsively. He waited a few moments, and was sure the beast was in a deep slumber.

James listened and waited for a few second until his breathing slowed down considerably. After an inward struggle with himself as to whether or not he should turn back into a human, he decided it was the easiest way to get Lily out of there.

Jumping out of the hole, his stood on a branch, his foot snapping the twig in two. His head spun round, but the beast seemed sound asleep, still.

He had only moved his foot a mere inch, when the beast's eyes flew open. James ran as fast and as far as he could, trying to get Lily further and further away from the beast that was gaining on the rapidly. James lay her down on the ground, turning around. He sprinted toward the animal. It pounced on him, ready to rip his throat apart.

In a panicked jump, he transformed into a stag. The beast released his grip on him, tumbling backwards in shock.

A throaty growl flew out of his mouth, as he jumped upwards, ready for battle. Narrowing his unappealing yellow eyes, his discoloured black fur ruffled in the wind, matted with mud.

James was paralyzed, mainly by fear. As the beast reared up, the adrenaline flooded James' veins. He staggered backwards, before inclining his head forwards, his antlers almost horizontal. Hurtling towards the now twice his size beast, he tore into his stomach with his sharp, bony horns.

A roar of anger erupted out of the beast's mouth, and fear infested his heart, but it was gone within a second, replaced with determination. Pulling out his antlers, he swerved the side, looking to go around him.

The monster rammed into James' left. James plummeted to the ground, hitting it with a thud. Gasping for breath, he craned his neck to the side of the beast. Opening his mouth wide, he bit down - hard.

Howling, the animal staggered back, giving James enough time to jump up and backwards. As it hobbled around in circles, it swished its tail back. James had to shuffle side to side to keep from getting himself hit.

Tiring, James knew he had to move, and so pounced down onto the tail, causing the animal to let out a strangled cry. He clambered up its back, punching into its back with his hooves. Hopping from one place to another, James hoped the mutated dog's anger would make it slower, not more precise.

He kept eye contact, dodging and swerving away from any attack directed at him. Every now and then, James would leap into close contact with the beast, nipping painfully at its skin.

His fur was maculated with the beast's purple-red blood. His breaths were twice the speed of his hoof movements. He was slowing down significantly. He gathered his almost completely abessive strength. Galloping about five metres away from the beast, not too far in front of Lily, he transformed back into a human.

He extended his hand outwards, mustering up the strength. Taking in a deep breath, he watched as small, blue, dust-like particles whirled together. Glowing, they formed a swirling sort of ball. Its light reached the trees around them, illuminating them even in broad daylight.

He pulled his hand back, throwing it with all the force he could gather. Thrown out of his hand, it flew to the beast, hitting it squarely in the chest. The impact of the power flung the beast backwards several feet, before it pounded into the floor with a '_clunk_' that brought on silence from the intently listening forest animals.

Slowly, very slowly, the sounds came back to life. First a bird's chirpy tweet, then a fox's cry and soon the buzzing of the overly fearful insects that dwelled inside the hollows of the trees.

He picked Lily up in a bridal-style carry, and wandered deep into the forest. After he thought he'd put enough distance between them and the sleeping animal, he'd forgotten which direction his make-shift hut was.

Laying Lily down on the forest floor tentatively, he morphed back into a stag. Sniffing the air, he ground his hoof in a straight line, facing the way he should go. Picking Lily back up in human-form, he quickly strode the long walk that awaited him.

--x--

Groaning, Lily blinked her eyes. Whimpering as the light blinded her, she sunk into herself, in a pitiful form of retreat. "Lily?" A timid voice spoke from not too far away.

"Mmm?" She replied sleepily. Met with a chuckle, Lily frowned. She pushed herself off the warmed up floor, but groaned as soon as her head started protesting with pain.

"You alright?" James said, concerned. Lily muttered an almost incoherent yes, before twisting sideways, her stomach grazing against the leafy floor.

It was a few seconds before Lily clocked her surrounding, and she flew up, ignoring the pain that was clobbering her head into millions of little pieces.

"Where am I?" She looked around herself.

"You're safe." James said, not really answering her question.

Furrowing her brow, Lily accepted this, as her thoughts were too fumbled for her to think straight.

"The ministry should be here soon." James told her as he handed her a cup shaped rock, filled with a brown liquid.

Sniffing it, Lily inhaled the sweet smelling fumes. She quickly downed the scalding hot drink, which dribbled down her lip and chin, and made her insides feel tingly - a bit like hot chocolate.

She instantly started to feel better, "Mm… What's in this?" She questioned, holding the rock outwards and examining its contents.

James shrugged. "Stuff."

Rolling her eyes, Lily felt her heart skip a beat when there was a catatonic bang from outside. Smoke wafted into the opening in the hut, and it made Lily's eyes water. James and her locked gazes, expressions filled with panic. They dashed outside, and Lily's head made no motion to protest to the much too fast movement.

Fires blazed around them. High up in the trees a piece of metal swung dangerously from between the branches. Making a squeaky, abnormal sound, it crashed to the floor with an eruption of sparks, smoke and fire.

Smoke filled the air, but Lily could still see the chaotically flying object heading towards them from the sky.

It took her a few moments to register what it was, but by the time she had, she was already on the floor. They'd been hit by a plane crash.

--x--

Words: 2,326  
Pages: 5  
Update time: 8th May 2010, 3:11pm

Radar Detector by Darwin Deez is an awesome song The video's pretty… original. The fang-fork thing is awesome though. Watch it/listen to it.

So this chapter is a bit short, but I couldn't really write. I don't know why. I didn't particularly like the ending, but I needed something to happen and I didn't know what else could happen in the middle of a forest, so…

THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS / STORY ALERTS / FAVOURITE AUTHOR / THINGS LIKE THAT. They made me tres tres happy.

Review! (Your reward will be knowing you have made my day!)

So, I'll update Forgotten Thoughts soon!


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